2023 was a noteworthy year for music

We covered the best albums and songs of 2023 in previous columns, so let’s chat about the year in general. It was interesting on the festival circuit, and while the club scene is still struggling, there were signs of life at a grassroots level. Venue-wise, Cork has had ups and downs, but more promoters are thinking about alternatives and there have been positives, too. It’s tough to make a living from music when streaming does little for the artists, but plenty of passionate people are still making music.

First up, let’s chat about all-things festivals. The big one is the Electric Picnic and, as it approaches its 20th year, in 2024, it’s bigger than ever. Lots of talk surrounds the headliners, which are fairly mainstream and occasionally uninspiring, but, for me, the festival remains important. This year it took place during an early September heatwave and it was a fantastic weekend. I went off the beaten track to areas such as Freetown and I was rewarded with a different experience. It’s like another world and there were plenty of fantastic DJs and performers. My personal EP highlights were Steve Lacy and Ireland’s own Negro Impacto.

Longitude has always been a festival that reflects the times we live in. It went from dance and indie rock to being a hip-hop festival for a few years and now it is balancing things out with a few more dance bookings again, which is more popular, while hip-hop and trap are dipping slightly. This year’s festival was solid over two days. All Together Now was incredible this year. Not even the muddy conditions could spoil the fun and I can’t wait for 2024. I missed Indie, which will take a year out in 2024, but it’s good for festivals to have a break now and then.

I also visited Body and Soul and Another Love Story, two Mullingar festivals that were more intimate, but just as much fun, if not more so. Meanwhile, we had Live at the Marquee and Musgrave Park both packing big crowds into Cork City, and boosting our summer here.

Cork Pride was fantastic this year, too. If you are reading this during the Christmas holidays, I won’t ruin them by mentioning too much about the lack of progress regarding our events centre, but, on the plus side, we had some dance events in City Hall. There’s more this week, too, so it’s great to see such a venue being utilised.

The Electronic Music Council took over for Culture Night and they have established a network of mainly young DJs and producers in Cork. They are running events and developing the scene, and there seems to be a vibrant dance community here right now.

We are still short a few nightclubs, so most of the most interesting stuff takes place in bars and there are some nice pop-ups happening, too. The Liberty Bar has emerged as a great option and other regulars, such as The Roundy and The Bru, have been supplemented by the likes of Nudes craft and cocktail bar.

The lack of venues continues to be a problem, and was again highlighted when the LGBTQ community got alienated from their home base at the Chambers; but, thankfully, people are still trying to make things happen. Cork is buzzing on a grassroots level and lots of collectives and arts and music crossovers are taking place. Sonflour restaurant is one good example of a venue that tries to incorporate the music scene organically into its own business and it’s wonderful to see people working together.

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival was fantastic this year and brought a top class line-up to Cork.

The Opera House, The Everyman, Live at St Lukes and many other venues hosted iconic shows, and, on a personal level, I was delighted to co-produce a hip-hop and jazz exhibition with Choice Cuts and the Jazz Festival at St Peter’s Church on North Main St.

It was a pretty good year, so here’s to 2024.

Happy New Year everybody!